Hoary Pea. Goat's Rue. Catgut Tephrosia Virginiana

Description

Hoary Pea. Goat's Rue. Catgut Tephrosia Virginiana

Family, Pulse. Color, pale lemon or white, marked with deep pink or purple. More fully analyzed, of the papilionaceous corolla the standard is a greenishyellow, broad, turned back in the full-blossomed flower, the rowings cohere with the keel which is a pale yellow tipped and marked with rose. Leaves, compound, with 9 to 29 leaflets, one odd, terminating the stem, all tipped with a minute point. June and July.

Sandy soil from New Hampshire to Minnesota and southward, common near the coast. Roots long and slender, with a toughness which gives the name catgut. The plant grows erect, 1 to 2 feet, with thick, brittle stems, in large clumps, in sandy soil, especially edging pine woods. The flowers grow-in long panicles, through which are scattered a few leaves. The panicle is often ragged-looking, the blossoms below being withered and dried. The entire plant is white, silky, hairy. The blossoms, with their striking color and large size, make a showy plant.

T. spicata. - A straggling, branching species, covered with brownish hairs, with few reddish flowers in a loose, interrupted spike, borne on a long peduncle. Leaflets of the pinnate leaves, 9 to 15, broad, oblong or wedge-shaped, generally notched. 2 feet high. May to July.

Dry soil from Delaware and Virginia southward.

T. hispidula. - Color, deep crimson. Slender-stemmed, straggling, 2 feet high or less. 2 to 4 flowers in a spike on a long peduncle. Leaves, similar to the last. May to July.